A Choice in Time
by FrostyPhoenix
Summary: Jack Dawson lost his chance to be with her. He couldn't hold on long enough for the boats, so he was lost, only to be revived by MiM. But what if he was given another chance? A chance to live a normal life, to get married, and die an old man, warm in his bed, not on THAT night... A chance to have Jack Frost never exist. (I OWN NOTHING!)
1. Jack Who?

"Get off her! I said get off her!"

Bunny yelped and ducked just in time, feeling Jack's wildly punching fist skim the hairs on the tips of his ears. The Winter Spirit had been in this semi-conscious bipolar state for the past twenty-four hours after suddenly collapsing on the floor of the globe room, muttering things like, "What have you got, Fabrizio?" He paused and said, sounding crestfallen, "Niente." And that was all that had come from him until North had placed him in his room and he began to get more active.

One of the big four would always be watching over him, and always had something to report at the end of each shift. North, who had watched over him first, said that Jack had clearly mumbled, "We're the luckiest sons of bitches in the world." Before laughing with what North described as pure, innocent elation then falling silent. Later, it was known that Jack suddenly yelled, "WHOO! I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!" A grin was smacked across his face

Sandy's turn hadn't been nearly as interesting. Only ramblings of things like, "You just seem to be an indoor girl," or "You jump and I jump too." And even a time when Jack, their elusive, secretive boy, had sang, under his breath and a smirk on his face, "Come Josephine, In my flying machine, Going up she goes, Up she goes..." At least, that was what was deciphered from his dreamsand signs.

But when Tooth was doting and fussing on the delirious teen, things had gotten stranger. She swore she heard Jack say, "I love you, Rose." And then the terror began. Jack had begun to toss and turn, screaming at the top of his lungs, "No! I swear it wasn't me! You know I didn't do this- you know me!" And none of Tooth's calming whispers could soothe him. He became even more distressed when he yelled, his young face fraught with pleading and concern, "Please, it'll be okay! You have to go now!" "Please, HELP US!" The fairy, frightened by his confusing screams and cries, had to leave, forcing Bunny to take his shift early.

And it all went down hill from there. As Bunny sat at his bedside, already terribly worried for the young Guardian, he didn't think that Jack could get more frightening (Well, that wasn't the right word. Bunny did not, nor had he ever found Jack scary. Just... concerning.) than he already was, crying out to invisible girls to "Hang on!" and that "I got you!"

Bunny was so wrong.

Now, minutes after the wild blow, Jack's shouts had been reduced to something much worse. The punches and thrashing was gone, and Jack was scaring Bunny out of his wits with what he was doing, freaking the Aussie out just by the sheer unnaturalness of it.

Jack Frost, immortal spirit and human form of frigid winters and freezing snow and the bitter North wind, began.

His teeth chattered, his arms wrapped around himself, and his own frost began to solidly on his pale face.

For a moment, Bunny only watched, horrified and fascinated, as silver tendrils of ice began to form on his body, stiffening his hair, peppering his face, encrusting his clothes, until a pained gasp was torn from the lips of his honorary little brother, snapping him back to his senses. "NORTH!" Bunny bellowed frantically, taking his eyes off the limp, shaking form for an instant. "NORTH, GET IN HERE NOW!" The large Santa burst through the door, followed by Sandy and Tooth.

"What-?" Started Tooth. Then her violet eyes fell on Jack, who was violently shaking and shivering, and her hands flew up to cover her mouth. "That-that..." Her shocked voice was muffled.

"What?" Demanded Bunny. "What's happening to him?"

"He...He's in a..." Tooth couldn't get the words out at first. This almost never happened. Never had there been a memory spurt so strong that it was manifesting itself in the waking world. Something horrible must have happened to Jack to make this happen, something that should have never occurred. So horrible, in fact, that Tooth had to find out. She swallowed hard. "He's in a memory. The worst one, too, which means that it's probably his last." Her voice quivered dangerously, and she took a deep breath. "We need to go into it if we want to help him."


	2. Into The Memory

"Go into it?" North sounded skeptical. "Toothy, I do not know if that is possible..."

Please, North." Tooth let out an uncharacteristically dry laugh. "I've been doing this for the past 700 years."

She fluttered over to the trembling winter child and gently placed a hand on his chilly forehead and the other on his cold chest. She closer her eyes and focused.

She, along with the guardians, was plunged into Jack Frost's mind.

It was dark. Very dark. And as they lingered in the memory, they were suddenly aware of the biting cold. Small chunks of ice bobbed in the water and even the bright stars, so very distant, seemed frosty. There was nothing around them but ocean.

"Where are we?" Bunny's gruff voice broke the silence, a silence that somehow felt condemning rather than peaceful.

"The Atlantic Ocean." Tooth said, her voice a little more than a whisper. "April 14th, 1912. 2:22am."

"How do you know that?" Asked North.

"I just do."

"Wait...1912." A horrible realization began to turn into a hard knot in Bunny's stomach. "You mean that..." His voice trailed off in horror as he found the reason for Tooth's strange sadness. His eyes raked the gently waving water, and he bit back a scream of shock as he saw the bodies.

They stretched out, seeming to be endless in number. They were just slightly pale dots against the dark water. Their life belts seemed to mock them, even in death, keeping their heads dutifully above the water with no need as they were already frozen to death. Bunny couldn't look away, they were everywhere, so many dots, so many–

"Come Josephine, in my flying...machine...going up she goes..."

A soft, sweet voice of a girl, cracking and strained, floated on the air, and Bunny jumped as he found he right next to him.

She lay stretched on her back, staring blankly at the freezing stars, wearing nothing but a thin dress and a gentleman's coat. Her once-fiery locks of hair were strewn around her, encrusted with ice. Beads of frost did nothing to improve the icy pallor of her skin. The jagged slab of wood supporting her looked like it would have once been a grand doorway, and as she lay on it, her only sign of life was the wavering sound of her song, lips barely moving, breath rasping with each intake.

"Up...she g-goes..."

Bunny could only stare. How horrible was this, to slowly wither away as you froze to death. Only the logical fact that she was only a memory of Jack kept him from helping her. But to just lay there, feeling your heart beat slower and slower, getting colder and colder until you felt nothing...

Suddenly, the girl shifted rolling with difficulty onto her stomach to face the body that was near her- no, hanging off the slab she floated on. Their hands were intertwined. As the girl turned, the dim starlight illuminated the body- the boy's- face. Pale blonde hair, half-lidded eyes that showed the tiniest sliver of bright blue iris, a handsome face, mischievous and familiar...so familiar... Bunny felt as though an anvil had struck him in the chest. That was-

"Jack." The girl whispered.


	3. The Promise that

**A/N: Here's something a bit longer, hopefully. Enjoy!**

"Jack." The girl whispered, her voice hoarse. Jack didn't respond. "Jack?" She repeated, straining to be louder, and shook him slightly. His eyelids fluttered and he blinked, trying to focus on the face in front of him.

"Rose?" He murmured. He wore nothing but trousers and a thin shirt, and his chest down was submerged in lapping, frigid water.

"I love you, Jack." Rose whispered. Her voice was soft and sad.

Something changed in Jack. His dull eyes gained a tiny spark, he shifted, and gripped her hand harder. His mouth set in a determined line.

"D-Don't you do th-that." He stammered, his teeth chattering from the cold. "Don't you say your g-goodbyes."

"I'm s-s-so c-cold." Rose rasped weakly.

"R-Rose, listen." Jack insisted. "You- you're gonna g-get married, and m-make lots of babies, and you're g-gonna watch them grow, and you are gonna die and a– an old lady, safe and warm in your bed." He shuddered from the cold. "Not here. Not on this night."

"I can't feel my body." Rose whispered brokenly.

"Rose, listen." Shivering violently, Jack hefted himself further up on the piece of wood, as far as he could without it tipping over under his weight. His fingers constricted even tighter around Rose's, and he said, "W-winning that t-ticket was th-the best thing th-that e-ever... happened to me." He seemed to be physically unable to keep talking, but he did, even though it was getting harder to breathe. "B-because it b-brought m...me to y-you. And I'm th-thankful, Rose...I-I'm thankf-ful."

Rose just stared dully into his eyes, her vision focusing and unfocusing like a camera lens as Jack pressed his lips to her hand and pulled away.

"N-now..." He stuttered. "Y-y-you m-must do m-me this honor..." He gasped. "A-and pr-promise that you WILL s-sur-survive... That y-you will...NEVER...give up, n-no matter wh-what happens...no m-matter how h-hopeless... Promise me now..." He whispered. "And never let go of that promise."

Rose lifted her head slightly and she blinked, a tiny spark of life returning to her once vibrant blue eyes.

"I promise." It was a simple whisper, but the Guardians felt some sort of magic seep into the air as the two human leaned their foreheads together.

Everything fell silent. No screams were heard, no groan of ripping metal, and even the freezing Atlantic waters barely made a sound. The only noise was audible to Bunny alone, and he listened to the two heartbeats that moved in unison.

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum...

Ba–Ba-dum. Ba–Ba-dum. Ba–Ba-dum. Ba–Ba-dum.

Bunny stiffened as he heard one of the two hearts skewer out of the soldiering drumbeat, slowing down and sending the whole rhythm out of sync. Slower and slower, slower and slower, and they both seemed oblivious. The Guardians watched in horror as Jack's feeble human heart began to fail him, as he became so weak that the only thing keeping his love's hand in his was the ice that froze them together. His breaths became shallower, and his body became limper, as if he was falling into a deep sleep.

Ba...dum...Ba...dum...Ba...dum...

His heart stopped.

Rose appeared not to notice, keeping her forehead against his.

The Guardians could only stare in horror for the moment that the cursed silence rang.

Then everything exploded.

**A/N: DUN DUN DUN! Very graceful ending, I know, but trying to keep the impact here. Review please! Thanks! **


	4. The Argument

**A/N: to make up for the horrible ending I left u with, here is something with a cliffhanger but not as much. Please tell me if the intervals I post this in are good! **

Bunny dared to open his eyes and found himself back at the pole, in Jack's room.

Around him, the other Guardians were blinking away their shock. Trying to rid the colorless noise from their ears.

"Wha...What WAS that?" Choked Bunny, struggling to speak after what felt like One-hundred years of not doing so.

"It was..." Tooth struggled to find the right words. "The explosion was the potential paradox. Something that happened in the original memory, in the original happening, suddenly has the opportunity to change." She swallowed. "That was NOT supposed to happen."

She heard the monotone in her voice and realized just how shocked she was. Jack... Jack died like that? She thought he died THREE HUNDRED years ago when he fell through the ice, saving his little sister... At least, that was the memory of Jackson Overland... But Rose hadn't called him that... She's called him–

Jack Dawson.

Tooth gasped, slapping her hands over her mouth. "No!" She wailed. "How could I have been so stupid!"

She dimly heard the "What?"s from the other three, but couldn't answer as she was trapped in her own shock.

Jack saw the wrong memories.

That was the only explanation. Jackson OVERLAND– he was a poor Shepard boy from the seventeen hundreds. But Jack –their Jack, Jack Frost– he wasn't. He never had been. He was Jack...Dawson, whoever that was.

She explained it to the Guardians, who looked utterly confused, but she couldn't focus on that right now. At this moment, their priority was figuring out how to help Jack. There had to be some way to get him out of that memory. She turned towards his bed and–

It was empty.

Jack was gone.

A blur later, they were all searching. North ran around the pole, assisted by the elves and yetis. Bunny tunneled to all his known haunts: to the lake, Jamie's house, Antarctica, etc. Sandy, Tooth, and the Mini-fairies scoured the globe, even going as far as to look in the spot where the Titanic sank.

Nothing.

Six hours later, the Guardians were back at the pole, slouched exhaustedly in the globe room, clutching hot mugs of cocoa.

Suddenly, Bunny turned to Tooth and asked, "Where is he?"

Tooth was shocked. "Why are you asking me?!" She yelped.

Bunny's ears twitched with annoyance. "Well, aren' you supposed ta be the expert on this sorta thing?"

"What sort of thing?! I've never seen this before in my life!"

"Says the one who claims that she's been doin it fer the past seven hundred years!"

"Claims?!" Shrieked Tooth, leaping up from he chair as her wings buzzed angrily. "And do you honestly expect me to have all the answers?!"

"Well, yeah, I do, or what else or you good for!"

Tooth stared, shock freezing her heart in her chest. She tried to be calm, but a blind, uncontrollable rage fogged her mind and she yelled viciously, "Why do you even care? You've never even liked Jack! Ever since he became a Guardian, you've done nothing but make him think he's not worth it! But he's a thousand times the GUARDIAN you'll ever be!"

Bunny stared at her, shame and shock mingling in his gaze, and some part of Tooth's frenzied mind knew that what she was saying was not true. But before either of them could speak, North butted in.

"Toothy, that iz enough!"

She rounded on him, her defenses rising. "Oh, of course, side with him! Do you think I should know everything, too, North? You think there's nothing else I'm good for?"

North was aghast. "Toothy, no! And Bunny should not have said that, but-"

"Whose side are you on?" Roared Bunny. "Do you honestly think that I would be so horrible to Jack?"

North's patience hit rock bottom.

"BOTH OF YOU ARE WRONG! YOU ARE BEING SELFISH AND CHILDISH, LIKE–LIKE..."

"Like me?"

All the Guardians whipped around, including Sandy, who had just been watching the exchange with wide eyes.

"Or...us, rather?" Continued Jack Dawson, looking pensive.

"No, we're technically the same person..." Reasoned Jack Frost.

**A/N: ? Lol. Ok, so please REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT U THINK. Im begging you. I won't do that 'give me more reviews and ill update' thing-NO DON'T LOOK AWAY- because I don't think I'm that good, but please tell me if their is something I need to change in my writing! Or just nice words appreciated. **


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